Lithium-Ion Battery Developer Yoshino Wins Japan Prize (News)

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)—The Japan Prize Foundation said Tuesday it will award the 2018 Japan Prize to Yoshino Akira, 70, honorary fellow of Asahi Kasei Corp., who developed lithium-ion batteries, and two other scholars.

"Many people are still engaged in research and development of lithium-ion batteries for further technological innovation. Winning the prize will greatly encourage them," Yoshino told a press conference.

Each year, the prize picks two scientific fields to honor. Yoshino won in the resources, energy, environment and social infrastructure field, for his development of the battery used in a wide range of products, including smartphones and electric vehicles.

The remaining winners, in the medical and medicinal science field, are Max Cooper of the United States, 84, professor at Emory University School of Medicine, and Jacques Miller of Australia, 86, professor emeritus at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, for their contributions in immunology, involving research into lymphocytes.

Yoshino started working on lithium-ion batteries in 1981. He developed a prototype of the battery in 1983 and the currently used version including carbon-based anodes in 1985.